No- i mean with the battery + disconnect and the alternator disconnected- place your DVOM/meter at both ends of the same cable (the cable leading from the battery to the alternator). Set your meter to read resistance. The cable should have virtually no resistance. While the meter is connected to both ends of the cable- move and bend the cable around keeping an eye on the meter. There should be no changes at all as you move and bend the cable. If there are changes, there may be a break in the cable beneath the insulation. Any open or high resistance in this cable will result in poor or a complete loss in charging system performance.

JJ

 

Ok, I got you now. Thanks, I'll do that when I get home this afternoon and let you know what I find out.

Thanks again,

One thing I forgot to mention is that even after I replaced the alternator two months ago after about a week the radio went back to having a drop in volume when I turn the lights on? It did that before with the old alternator and it still does it with this one. Is that a clue for anything to check? I did pull the radio fuse out to see if it would make a difference but it didn't.

 

I visually inspected what I could of the wired and what I could see looked great. I wasn't able to get a multimeter to test for continuity. I did however take my volt meter out of my Ford and hooked it up to see what was going on with that. I took a video, you can see how fast the volts start to drop. Here's the link to the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bdKMoyMhOw

I put the truck on the battery charger last night. As soon as I started it up I went ahead and did the old alternator test of unhook the postive battery terminal to see if it would die and it didn't. Then after the volts started to drop and the radio went off and the tach dropped to zero I did it again and this time it died when I pulled the positive wire off.

The brake light stays on all the time and after the volts started dropping the battery light came on.

Could it be that the problem is with the alternator only after it heats up some? And thats why it tested good at Autozone because it had been sitting all night.

I'm still going to get the multimeter to test the continuity though and call a couple of wreckers to try to find a reasonable alternator.

 

1st of all, the charging system voltage should be anywhere between 13-14.4 volts. The video started at less than than battery voltage. If the alt fuse is still intact- i'd venture to say the alternator is bad. Why not drive your truck over to where you bought it and show them with a voltage meter that it's not charging?

JJ

 

Yes the 100amp fuse is still in tact. I had the truck running for few minutes then when the RPMs started slowing down I decided I'd go pull my gauge out of my truck, which didn't take but maybe 2 minutes. By the time I hooked it up thats the reading I got.

The main problem with driving it back to autozone is that the nearest one is 20 miles from my house. I really think this issue is the alternator too but they won't honor the warranty as long as it passes on their test machine. Another bad thing about that is the only Autozone in town that has the altenator in stock is the one that is furtherest from my house at about 35 miles. They are the ones that it has passed on their machine twice and they are sure I have another problem, that its not the alternator. I could drive it to the closest one and have them test it then have them call the other one hopefully!

I also thought about a dedicated alternator shop, do you think they could tell me anything about it.

 

Well I got so frustrated with not being able to figure out what the deal was that I finally called a mechanic to look at it. As soon as he looked at it he said the alternator was bad, he knew a guy at autozone and told me to ask for him and tell him who sent me there and he would take care of it for me. Well sure enough I went to autozone and the dude gave me a new alternator. I jumped it off and let it run about 30 minutes then I drove it about 40 miles with no issues at all. I put my volt gauge back on it and it stayed right at or above 14. The only thing is the brake light will still come on sometimes. Thanks for all the help from everyone.

 

Check the brake fluid in the resevoir by physically removing the cap and checking the fluid level. There's a bladder in the cap that can make the reservoir appear full even though its not- which is why i suggest you remove the cap. If the fluid is low and you have no signs of leaking- have your brakes inspected.

JJ

 

I took the cap of the master cylinder and sure enough that bladder was fully extended into the reservoir. I pushed the bladder back up into the cap and added some brake fluid. The fluid was below the top of what looked to be some kind of float in the master cylinder, I figured that was the switch that activated the brake light.

I really appreciate all the help. Thanks again!

 

Your fluid is low for a reason- likely to displace the wear of the brake pads. Have your brakes inspected or inspect them yourself.

JJ

 

It probably is because of wear. It's been a few years since I've done the pads. I'll check and see to make sure. If so, I know I can do the brakes with no issue. I know I need to do the brakes on my '99 Rodeo as well, they're getting thin.